So annoyed at my cat

[SkyBlue1987]

Soo annoyed at my kitten right now, he’s clawed and destroyed our carpet. I’ve shut him in a room while I calm myself down but please talk me out of rehoming him because my kids love him. I know it’s not his fault I’m just frustrated that he is so destructive and am at a loss what to do - no other kitten I know is this destructive. He has so many toys and scratching posts but we have had multiple couches, curtains, dining chairs, duvets, shoes, kids stuffed toys, books eaten all destroyed.

Ha. I thought I’d “trained” my cat not to go on the worktops. Then we got a cat camera to check on her when we are away. Turns out I’ve just trained her not to go on the worktops when I am there…

We have a senior cat like that. She has one mutant claw that grows horribly long & curled, and she had to have that done at the vet's yesterday.

Same! I’ve always taught our kittens to enjoy it very early by sitting them on my lap facing away from me, with their back paws sticking out like a teddy bear.
I give them a little bit of Lik-e-Lix after each claw is done so they learn to associate the clippers with yummy treats.
You need bright light and decent nail clippers (human ones are fine) to do it safely.

Be prepared to only be able to do one claw in the first instance, and you might need to get through a fair bit of Lik-e-Lix. Obvs YMMV depending on what breed and temperament you’ve got. We have BSHs (cat labradors essentially)

I've always done my cats claws - one in particular has carefully cultivated daggers so needs done a regular basis. Just don't trim them too far back in to the quick. Lots of video's on youtube on how to do it safely. I prefer the nail scissors as they don't shatter the claw as much. Other than that - yes, he'll grow out of it.. maybe!

Yes my current cat doesn’t scratch much inside, I’ve seen her scratching on trees outside. Even on patio slabs and the like that keeps their claws ground down outside.

Kittens destroy everything but grow out of it. Mine did so much damage to furniture when they were little, now they're so lazy they just sleep all day. It will be over soon

Sounds like you're not a cat person, OP. Neither am I. I only discovered this when we got a cat too.

I mean he is just a baby cat not a toddler. Needing time to yourself from a kitten, a ragdoll at that, is quite extreme.

The method spray with orange oil in is very good at keeping cats off worktops. They don’t like the smell.

At 5 months, he is moving out of kitten stage (primary school age in human terms), so not a baby any more, although maybe large breeds do take longer to mature.

Cats are considered kittens until they reach 1 year old.

As with all creatures, including humans, it is all relative. We consider young people to be legally children until they are 18, but they don't behave like toddlers or little kids, do they?

A 5 month-old cat is no longer a baby.

he is most definitely still a kitten. Anyway, even if he was an adult cat OP would be extreme to need time to herself. When I said he is a baby cat I meant he isn’t like a toddler child who needs a lot of input. Simply opening the door would have done.

My cat is 9 and still claws carpets. It makes me really cross. I shut her in the kitchen if we are out or away to try to stop her.

You can't compare cats and humans, though.

Cats never mentally age beyond todderlhood, so in their first year of life they're very much still babies (even though they're weaned, litter trained and capable of reproducing).

This and do it fast. You’re not cut out to own a cat. You sound like you’ve never even met one before. Shutting it in a room so you can calm down? Rehome the cat.

I keep coming back to this thread and I’m inclined to agree. At almost 3 and 4 our ragdolls still require a lot of attention, which we are more than willing to give. It’s the nature of the breed and that won’t change. I’d hope a reputable breeder would take the kitten and be able to rehome to someone who understands what they’re letting themselves in for.

I've had cats all my life (60+ years) and I'm not talking about anthropmorphising them, far from it. I'm talking about infancy, adolescence and physical & mental maturity. I was merely comparing it with the stages of a human childhood so people would get it. Clearly not.

You cannot directly compare a cat with a human, but what you can do is look at their age from birth to its adulthood, and say that the animal or human is nearly half way there. A 5 month-old cat is almost half way to full adult maturity, and in a very short time will be sexually mature enough to reproduce.

The way people have been discussing this animal on here was as a kitten, with some people using the word 'baby'. A cat of 5 months is no more a baby than any other mammal that is nearly half way to adulthood. An adolescent bordering on what we would call puberty. That is the comparison I was making.

Fair enough :)

When I said he is just a baby I meant as in he is young and it’s a shame what OP is doing. Didn’t expect it would descend into a whole detail about cats maturity.

I promise he will not stand on the kitchen hob if it's hot. One of my girls enjoys a spray on top of the microwave though.

There is also a product called pet training spray. I used it when my cat was little to stop her ruining the sofa.

h

Exactly what I was going to post.

Louie says HA to this information. When we adopted him I was big on “no cats on counters”, as our previous girl never really bothered. Now I have shares in Method and kitchen roll. (The orange Method is probably just out of shot here.)

Ah but Louie is orange and therefore the
method just supercharges his orangeness!